Continuous treating apparatus

ABSTRACT

A continuous treating apparatus includes a tubular infeed chamber having a spiral conveyor therein with a feed tube connected to the first flight of the conveyor. A feed spout is disposed in the feed tube displaced from a vertical plane passing through the longitudinal axis of the tubular chamber.

[ 51 Sept. 12,1972

United States Patent Coss et al.

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Niagara Falls, N.Y.

Sept. 8, 1970 [21] Appl. No.2 70,315

Primary Examiner-James L. Jones, Jr.

[22] Filed:

Attorney-David E. Dougherty and Robert E. Walter [57] ABSTRACT A continuous treating apparatus include [52] U.S. 51/164 [51] Int. Cl. 3/00, 1324b 31/02 [58] Field of Search..............................5l/9, 13, 164

displaced from a vertical plane passing through the longitudinal axis of the tubular chamber.

feed tube connected to the first flight of the conveyor. A feed spout is disposed in the feed tube References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 598,510 2/1898 Hathorn......................51/164 10Claims,6DrawingFigures PATENTEDsEP 12 m2 CONTINUOUS TREATING APPARATUS BACKGROUND OF INVENTION Continuous cleaning devices have generally included a treating chamber which is usually trough shaped with centrifugal throwing wheels disposed at the open end of the trough for blast cleaning the articles which are tumbled therein. Such arrangements have included a feed chamber for supplying the articles to the trough and a discharge chamber for removing the cleaned articles from the trough. The articles are conveyed through the feed and discharge chambers by means of a spiral conveyor secured to the inner surface of the chambers so that the conveyor rotates with the chambers to push the articles therethrough. A problem which had occurred with conventional arrangements was that the leading edge of the spiral conveyor would sometimes cut through the bed of articles inserted therein causing damage to the articles. This problem was overcome by an apparatus described in copending application Ser. No. 815,379, filed Apr. 11, 1969, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,585,758 wherein a feed tube was connected to the first flight of the spiral conveyor for depositing the articles therein in such a manner as to prevent the first flight from cutting through the articles.

The center feed tube described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,585,758 has also been incorporated in a modified arrangement described in U.S. application Ser. No. 55,699, filed July 17, 1970. In this apparatus the trough shaped treating chamber is replaced by a tubular treating chamber and the centrifugal throwing wheels are mounted in such a manner as to be inserted in the treating chamber. Accordingly, it is possible to form the infeed chamber and the treating chamber as a single unit.

Although the above arrangements have been a distinct improvement over prior arrangements a further problem still existed. In this respect the parts or articles were discharged by the feed tube in the central area of the infeed tube, namely, in a vertical plane which intersects the longitudinal axis of the tube. As a result some of the parts, such as castings would fall upon previously deposited parts which may cause small chips to be knocked off corners. This chipping may occur on surfaces which are to be machined for gasket sealed surfaces or the like. Often when castings are damaged in this manner it renders the castings unusable.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION An object of this invention is to provide a continuous treating apparatus which overcomes the above difficulties.

A further object of this invention is to provide such an apparatus which utilizes the benefits of the above arrangements while minimizing the likelihood of chipping to occur by preventing the articles from falling on top of each other during insertion thereof into the apparatus.

In accordance with this invention a continuous treating apparatus includes a tubular infeed chamber having a spiral conveyor therein with a feed tube connected to the first flight of the conveyor. A feed spout is disposed in the feed tube displaced from the vertical plane passing through the longitudinal axis of the tubular chamber.

In an advantageous form of this invention the discharge end of the spout may be inclined downwardly away from the longitudinal axis with its side walls tapering inwardly toward each other. The spout may be in the form of a non-rotatable chute disposed within the feed tube.

THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of a continuous treating apparatus in accordance with this invention wherein the treating chamber is trough shape;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of a continuous treating apparatus in accordance with this invention wherein the treating chamber is tubular;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a feed spout usable in the apparatus of FIG. 1 and of FIG. 2 in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view partly in section of the feed spout shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an end elevation view .of the apparatus shown in FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a side elevation view partly in section of the apparatus shown in FIGS. 4-5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION FIG. 1 shows an apparatus 10 of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,585,758 the details of which are incorporated herein by reference thereto. In general apparatus 10 includes a rotatable tubular infeed chamber 12 having a spiral conveyor 14 secured to its inner surface for feeding articles to a trough shaped treating chamber 16. A plurality of centrifugal throwing wheels 18 are mounted at the open end of the U-shaped trough for cleaning the parts which are fed thereto. The cleaned parts are then received in rotatable discharge chamber 20 which also includes a spiral conveyor 22 for discharging the cleaned parts by any suitable means such as outlet 24. At the entrance to infeed chamber 12 a center feed tube 26 is provided which is secured to the first flight 28 of conveyor 14 for rotation therewith. To this point the continuous treating apparatus 10 is of the same general construction as in U.S. Pat. No. 3,585,758. Apparatus 10, however, also includes offset feed spout 30 which will be described in greater detail hereinafter.

' FIG. 2 shows a somewhat different continuous treating apparatus of the type described in copending application Ser. No. 55,699, filed July 17, 1970, the details of which are incorporated herein by reference thereto. In general apparatus 31 also includes an infeed tube 12 having a spiral conveyor 14 on its inner surface with infeed tube 26 secured to the first flight 28 of the conveyor. In apparatus 31, however, the treating chamber 32 is tubular and in fact is made unitary with infeed chamber 12. In this arrangement the centrifugal throwing wheels 34 are mounted upon a boom 36 and may be inserted into treating chamber 32. In accordance with the present invention infeed tube 26 is provided with the offset feed spout 30.

FIGS. 3-6 show the details of feed spout 30 and its relation to feed tube 26 and infeed chamber 12. Feed tube 26 may be omitted. As indicated therein feed spout 30 is formed similar to a chute having side walls 38 and bottom wall 40 and being open at its top. Articles such as castings 42 are fed to the chute in any suitable manner. As best shown in FIG. 5 feed chamber 12 has its infeed tube or bridging element 26 coaxial therewith. Chute 30, however, is eccentrically mounted in that it is displaced from a vertical plane 44 which extends through the axial longitudinal center line 46 of the rotatable feed tube and infeed chamber. Spout 30, however, is stationarily mounted. At the discharge end of spout 30, floor 40 is inclined downwardly at 48 away from the longitudinal axis 46. Additionally, the side walls taper downwardly at 50 toward each other to direct the parts 42 away from plane 44. Thus as shown in FIG. 5 each part is deposited displaced from the vertical plane 44 as indicated by part 42a. Since chamber 12 is rotating before the next part 42b can be deposited, the previous part would have also rotated to the position shown at 42c. Accordingly, the incoming castings or parts fall into an area which is free of prior castings. In this manner there is no danger of parts falling on top each other to cause chipping.

What is claimed is:

l. A continuous apparatus for treating articles comprising a treating chamber, treating means for subjecting the articles in said chamber to a treating operation, an infeed chamber communicating with said treating chamber, discharge means for said treating chamber, said infeed chamber having an entrance end and being tubular with an inner surface and a longitudinal axis, a spiral conveyor having a plurality of flights mounted on said inner surface of said infeed chamber, means for rotating said infeed chamber and its spiral conveyor, at least the first flight of said spiral conveyor having an opening therethrough, a feed spout disposed at said entrance end, and said feed spout having a discharge end displaced from the vertical plane passing through said longitudinal axis.

2. An apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein a tubular bridging element is disposed at said entrance end and extends to said opening of said first flight and is connected thereto, and said feed spout extending at least partly into said bridging element.

3. An apparatus as set forth in claim 2 wherein said discharge end of said spout is inclined downwardly away from said longitudinal axis.

4. An apparatus as set forth in claim 3, wherein said spout includes side walls, said side walls taper inwardly toward each other at the discharge end.

5. An apparatus as set forth in claim 4 wherein said spout is a non-rotatable chute being open at its top, and said bridging element being coaxial with said infeed chamber.

6. An apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said treating chamber is trough shaped, and said treating means being centrifugal throwing wheels disposed at the open end of the trough.

7. An apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said treating chamber is tubular and coaxial with said infeed chamber, and said treating means being centrifugal throwing wheels disposed in said treating chamber.

8. An apparatus as set forth in claim 7 wherein a spiral conveyor is mounted on the inner surface of said treating chamber, and said treating chamber and said infeed chamber being of one-piece construction.

9. An apparatus as set forth in claim 2, wherein said feed spout is displaced from the vertical plane to permit articles to be deposited in an area of the infeed chamber free of nor de osited articles.

10). An appara us as see forth in claim 2, wherein said spout is displaced from the vertical plane in a given direction to permit discharged articles to rotate toward the vertical plane before another article is discharged from said spout 

1. A continuous apparatus for treating articles comprising a treating chamber, treating means for subjecting the articles in said chamber to a treating operation, an infeed chamber communicating with said treating chamber, discharge means for said treating chamber, said infeed chamber having an entrance end and being tubular with an inner surface and a longitudinal axis, a spiral conveyor having a plurality of flights mounted on said inner surface of said infeed chamber, means for rotating said infeed chamber and its spiral conveyor, at least the first flight of said spiral conveyor having an opening therethrough, a feed spout disposed at said entrance end, and said feed spout having a discharge end displaced from the vertical plane passing through said longitudinal axis.
 2. An apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein a tubular bridging element is disposed at said entrance end and extends to said opening of said first flight and is connected thereto, and said feed spout extending at least partly into said bridging element.
 3. An apparatus as set forth in claim 2 wherein said discharge end of said spout is inclined downwardly away from said longitudinal axis.
 4. An apparatus as set forth in claim 3, wherein said spout includes side walls, said side walls taper inwardly toward each other at the discharge end.
 5. An apparatus as set forth in claim 4 wherein said spout is a non-rotatable chute being open at its top, and said bridging element being coaxial with said infeed chamber.
 6. An apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said treating chamber is trough shaped, and said treating means being centrifugal throwing wheels disposed at the open end of the trough.
 7. An apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said treating chamber is tubular and coaxial with said infeed chamber, and said treating means being centrifugal throwing wheels disposed in said treating chamber.
 8. An apparatus as set forth in claim 7 wherein a spiral conveyor is mounted on the inner surface of said treating chamber, and said treating chamber and said infeed chamber being of one-piece construction.
 9. An apparatus as set forth in claim 2, wherein said feed spout is displaced from the vertical plane to permit articles to be deposited in an area of the infeed chamber free of prior deposited articles.
 10. An apparatus as set forth in claim 2, wherein said spout is displaced from the vertical plane in a given direction to permit discharged articles to rotate toward the vertical plane before another article is discharged from said spout. 